


Claimed Memories

by twdeadfanfic



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdeadfanfic/pseuds/twdeadfanfic
Summary: After the prison fell, Daryl loses his family, loses his wife, the only thing he still have are his memories, and so he remember her and their relationship, until she finds her again, but she’s with the claimers. Request.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & You, Daryl Dixon & reader, Daryl Dixon/Reader, Daryl Dixon/You
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

The effect of the alcohol was leaving him, and though his heart had still felt heavy while the booze clouded his mind, although the sadness, bitterness, and pain hadn’t left him since they lost the prison that was their home, now it started to grow even more, to become unbearable again, as if someone was ripping his heart, as if he could drown in pain.

Daryl welcomed it, though. That’s how he should feel, he didn’t deserve any relief from it, not after losing his home, his family, his wife, without him doing anything to stop it.

Beth had fallen asleep there on the porch of the tattered cabin, drunk. It was the girl’s fault that he was drunk too, she hadn’t stopped until he’d found them booze.

He’d been a prick to her, he knew, but it seemed Beth didn’t hold it against him. He just hadn’t been able to hear her talk like that anymore, like if their family might be alive, somewhere, like they weren’t dead, like she hadn’t seen her own father beheaded in front of her, talking about tracking them, about how he could find Y/N, it felt like too much.

Y/N.

She was gone, he knew she was. Even if Beth was right, even if she might have been able to run away from the prison too, he wouldn’t see her ever again. How was he going to find her? He couldn’t just track her and the others like that, it didn’t work that way, no matter what Beth believed. Either way, Y/N was gone, and probably dead. He left his wife die. He had lost the Governor when tracking him down, had stopped searching for him, and then he’d come back, destroyed his home, killed his people. He’d lost Y/N.

Daryl bit his lip to stifle a whimper, rubbing his eyes furiously, ashamed, he didn’t want Beth to wake up and see him like that again, but he couldn’t help it, he felt nauseous, he felt as if his heart were being ripped out of his chest and devoured by walkers.

Rick was gone too, he had gone out to try and talk with the Governor, even though Daryl had known that wouldn’t work, and when the shooting started Daryl hadn’t seen him anymore, he didn’t know if he’d been killed. Carl…he had given the kid one of the riffles, but he’d lost him too during the shooting.

Judith…he didn’t even know where she had been, with the other kids, he guessed, he thought the kids had gone to the bus but he wasn’t sure, maybe the baby was gone too, maybe all them were…

Daryl couldn’t take it anymore and he rushed onto his feet and stumbled a few steps away from the porch before throwing up. He stumbled back to the porch, flopped down again, reached for the jar of moonshine, swallowing greedily the few drops that were left inside, begging for it to make him numb, he couldn’t deal with this anymore, he didn’t want to feel anymore…

Y/N… She’d be so upset seeing him drunk like this. She never drank. He hadn’t drunk during all their time together. But he didn’t feel like he could be sober anymore.

Y/N…

He met her at the quarry…but they didn’t get along back then, damn, he didn’t get along with anybody of his group back then.

He hadn’t talked much with her back then anyway, though she had, a couple of times, showed interest in tracking and hunting, asking him about it, as she seemed eager to learn anything useful to surviving, which he’d respected. He’d tried, told her a few things, showed her a couple, but he hadn’t been sure of how to act around her, and it had ended up in them arguing kind of often.

Besides, her arguments with his brother made her soon stop asking anything to him too. Daryl knew Y/N couldn’t stand his brother, and in his eyes, back then it’d been enough for him to be annoyed by her. She’d snapped every time Merle said something racist, sexist or homophobic, arguing with him every time that he was…himself.

Daryl knew most of his brother’s words had been his own too, though, no matter he was ashamed, and Y/N had barked back at him quite often too. He didn’t know how she’d ever given him a chance.

He still didn’t know, either, why he had decided to talk with her that night at the CDC, or why she had decided to talk to him either. That was their first real conversation, he thought, besides some words at the quarry and those times he’d harshly explained to her something about tracking and hunting…

_Then…_

He wasn’t drunk, not really, not yet, but drunker than in a long while. That CDC place was strange, he didn’t like being under the ground, no sunlight, nothing, and the doctor…he didn’t like him either, couldn’t put his finger on why, though.

But he had given them rooms with beds, showers with hot water, more food than Daryl had seen in he didn’t know how long, and even booze…couldn’t complain.

He felt content, somehow, thanks to the alcohol, he knew. He even had fun with the people of the group, laughing at Glenn, the kid couldn’t handle his alcohol for shit. Rick…he was never gonna forgive what he did to Merle, but maybe the man could be worse. He’d proved he could handle himself in Atlanta, when he went with him to search for his brother, and he’d been right about the CDC.

Everyone had gone to sleep already, and Daryl was just silently wandering around, exploring the place, trying to see if there was something that didn’t feel right. He was still carrying a bottle of booze on his hand, taking sips from time to time.

He took a turn to go back to the showers, finding an illuminated corridor among the dark ones, and he bumped into Y/N, who was sat down there on the floor, engrossed on a book.

“The hell you doing on the floor?”

Y/N jumped a bit, seeming taken by surprise. “Oh…” She looked up from her book, finding him there. “Reading…this place has a big library and I had read all the books we have, I’m going to take advantage of it, I’m going to like, read a book a day.” She smiled, and Daryl wondered how drunk he was, but hell, that was a pretty smile she had. “I’m sharing a room with Andrea and I don’t want to bother her with the light…besides she’s puking her guts out, and she’s so sad, I don’t know how to help, but it’s like she doesn’t want me near…”

“She lost her sister…” Daryl shrugged, trying not to think on his brother, but it was too late, and there it was, pain and sadness gripping his heart. “Ain’t nothing you can do to help.”

“Yeah…” Y/N let out a sigh, looking down, before looking at him again, chewing on her lip. “How are you?” Daryl just frowned at her question, taken aback. “I mean…Merle…”

She trailed off, but Daryl knew what she meant, and he felt agitated. “I know you are glad he’s not here,” he snapped.

“Daryl…yeah, your brother and I…you know what I thought of him. But I don’t I wish to anyone to go through what you’re going, to lose a brother like that…”

Daryl squinted at her, he couldn’t believe or trust her words that easily, he did know what she thought about his brother, and about himself too, but she seemed genuine, like maybe she actually meant it…Daryl didn’t know what to think.

“He ain’t dead, tho.” He muttered, even though he couldn’t shake the fear that maybe Merle was, indeed, dead, and that even if he wasn’t, he seemed pretty much lost to him, that he wouldn’t ever see his brother again, and that he was all alone in the world now.

It was too much, it felt like a bolt to the heart, it felt too overwhelming, and so he took a big gulp of booze. He looked at Y/N and offered her the bottle.

“No, thanks.” She shook her head. “I don’t drink.”

“Seriously?” Daryl scoffed, arching an eyebrow. “The world ended and you wanna stay sober?”

Y/N chuckled, but Daryl thought she looked sad. “I made a bow to never drink again. My best friend was driving one evening when she was rammed by a drunk truck driver, she ended but with brain damage, fought like hell, but in the end, she passed…” She said quietly, swallowing hard as her eyes got wet.

“Shit…” Daryl just looked at her, he didn’t know what to do or what to say. It seemed as if Y/N noticed, and she gave him a sad smile.

“It’s okay, you can drink.” She shrugged, and Daryl still didn’t know what to say or do.

“It ain’t like we can kill people by driving drunk anymore…” He said awkwardly, and it sounded even more stupid now that he said it aloud than in his head, and it had sounded stupid enough, why did he have to say anything, but everything was so awkward…

Y/N just chuckled again. “I don’t know…if we all get shit drunk and take the cars, I bet nothing good is gonna happen… and you, with that bike of your brother and no helmet, that’s not safe even sober.

“I ain’t gonna crash the bike, not even shit drunk.” Daryl scoffed. “And I know no one gives a damn shit if I kill myself.”

“Daryl! Don’t say stuff like that!” Y/N chastised, much to his surprise.

“What, it’s true…” Daryl shrugged, defensive.

“It’s not. Yeah, you are an asshole, not as big as your brother, but damn, you try,” Y/N smiled softly and Daryl didn’t know if take offense or not. “But, you’re a great tracker and hunter, a great survivor, you got lots of skills, whether they like you or not, you’re the most useful of us, probably.”

Okay…okay, he was blushing now, why would she say shit like that…Daryl wondered if she meant it, for real, why the hell did she think like that of him.

“And…asshole or not, I don’t want you to die. I don’t think anybody does. And I don’t know, I’ve been stuck for a while with you now, prick or not, I’d be kind of bummed if you die now.” She shrugged, giving him another small smile, and Daryl scoffed, but couldn’t help his own small smile, feeling…weird, he didn’t know how he felt, but it was kind of weird.

Daryl didn’t know why, but he found himself sitting down beside her, resting his back against the wall as he took another gulp of booze. He was starting to actually feel the effect of it in the wrong way, getting tired and kind of numb.

Y/N didn’t seem to mind his company, she didn’t say anything, just went back to his book, and Daryl found himself peeking at it. Y/N still didn’t say anything, but Daryl noticed her angling the book so it were easier for him to read.

He didn’t talk again with her until they were out of the CDC and on the road again, after that insane doctor almost blew them all up. They had been holed up in a warehouse, and as Daryl had looked around, everyone seemed defeated…

Y/N was sat down on the ground, hugging her knees, playing with a loose thread of her trousers. Daryl approached her, chewing on his lip, feeling nervous.

“Uh…there…” He muttered, dropping some books from his bag next to her.

“What’s this?” Y/N looked at him surprised.

“I…uh…when things got weird and we packed our stuff, when we were going to leave the CDC before knowing that the guy wanted to blow us up…I walked past the library, and I had space in my bag, and I remembered you said you wanted to read the books, figured more people might want too…so I picked up some,” Daryl explained, feeling like an idiot, he didn’t know why he had done it. “Didn’t know which ones you liked or nothing…” He shrugged.

“That’s…” Y/N blinked at him and Daryl looked away, embarrassed and nervous. “Woah…I didn’t expect…I…Thank you, Daryl, thank you so much. This is so thoughtful and so great, thank you, Daryl, I’m so happy I can read a book now when everything feels like shit, I’m sure everyone else will appreciate it too, seriously. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Stop it, ain’t nothing.” Daryl couldn’t help but feel more embarrassed, even though when he looked at Y/N she was grinning. He wasn’t drunk now, but her smile still was quite pretty…Daryl nodded at her and rushed away.

*

They were still on the road when Y/N began talking to him more, as she approached him some times to tell him about the book she was reading, making him nervous and awkward, he couldn’t help it. However, she picked his interest, to the point he began reading the same book too when she wasn’t reading it. He didn’t tell her, but she found out anyway and she seemed delighted to have someone to talk to about the plot, the characters and whatnot, even if he was awkward, even if he didn’t say much, she didn’t seem to mind…and on his side, Daryl found he actually didn’t mind to listen to her talking.

Things changed when Sophia got lost. If the spirits had been low already, now they were even more. Daryl did all he could to find her, yet he couldn’t even find her trail, not that he would stop.

There was no time for reading anymore, neither his brain could focus on it, he’d only Sophia in his mind. However, a couple of days after he began looking for Sophia, Y/N had approached him and sat down next to him, book in hand, seeming nervous and unsure, and Daryl didn’t know what was going on, until she began reading the book aloud, right from the part in which he had left it.

Daryl was confused, he didn’t know what to think, but he found he didn’t mind it…and as she did it again the next day, and the next, and the next, he found maybe he actually liked it.

He liked to hear her speak, he liked her voice, he liked to hear her reading, it helped him calm down, it eased his mind, stopping it from razing with a thousand unhelpful thoughts about Sophia, helped him to feel almost at ease. He didn’t know how to tell her, though…and it also scared him.

She worried about Sophia too, he knew. He had seen her crying quietly a couple of times, hiding from everyone, thinking nobody was around. Daryl never said anything.

She kept reading to him after his accident, after he almost died, and Daryl even got to think that it might be the only thing keeping him sane when he was sick of being bedridden, unable to look for Sophia.

And then, when they found that the little girl was dead, when he pushed everyone away from him, tried to go back on his own again…Daryl had found he missed Y/N.

He had wondered if that meant they were friends…he hadn’t known how that made him feel…scared, but good too, but nervous…

Not much later, they had lost the farm and were forced to hit the road once again. It’d taken them almost a week to finally find a place with a roof to stay, finding and clearing a warehouse.

A week after that, Daryl had been taking watch, when Y/N had approached him…

She was carrying a book and a plate with food, nudging him with it as she sat down next to him.

“I saw you, you can’t keep giving most of your food to everyone else and go hungry.”

“Ain’t hungry…” Daryl lied, if he wanted to eat then he should have been able to hunt more. Y/N gave him a stern look, nudging him with the plate again, and Daryl gave up, taking it and eating.

“Do you mind if I read aloud?” Y/N asked and Daryl shook his head, he didn’t mind, he actually welcomed it, he looked forwards to it, to hear her voice reading, easing his mind.

It wasn’t even just her reading anymore, he looked forwards to just hearing her talk, telling him stuff, even if he usually didn’t have much to say back to her, he liked to listen to what she had to say, and he liked that no matter what she smiled to him.

It made him nervous, though, that he liked all that about her, the way she made him feel, sometimes he felt like running away from her, but he was never able to do so.

“I was thinking…” Y/N began, instead of reading. “That maybe you could read to me too?”

Daryl frowned at her, taken aback. “Really?”

“I mean…if you don’t mind…but it’s okay if you don’t want to.” Y/N shrugged, seeming shy.

“No, I don’t mind…” He was surprised she was asking, though, but then Y/N was smiling at him and everything felt better.

“We could take turns, maybe, you read to me one day and then I read to you the next day, while we take watch.” She grinned, and Daryl found himself smiling back.

“Okay.”

*

Months passed, and it was not only reading anymore. They still read to each other almost every day, but every day it was less reading and more just talking about anything and everything, their thoughts and worries, their life now and before, and each day Daryl found himself talking a little bit more.

He still preferred to listen to Y/N than to talk himself, though, he liked listening to what she had to say, he liked it when she shared things about her, and he liked the sound of her voice.

At some point, he found himself wondering if he’d fallen for her. It was a sudden thought that made him panic, but that seemed true, if he thought about it.

He found his mind wandering to her when she was not around him, he sought her company, the world felt less awful when she was talking to him or just next to him, she always managed to ease his mind, and when she smiled to him, which he always tried to get her to do, he couldn’t help his own smile as he felt weird twirls in his stomach.

So, yes, maybe he had fallen for her and he didn’t know what to do about it…

A few days after that realization hit him, Daryl was sat down on the ground, listening to Y/N as she told him about the last run she’d gone, along with Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog, while Daryl stayed back hunting, they’d needed food urgently. He didn’t like it when Y/N went on runs and he wasn’t around, since he always found himself thinking and worrying about her, but as time passed, she got better and better at it and at fighting walkers, and so he could more or less relax, even though that worry at the back of his mind wouldn’t leave him.

He wasn’t really listening to her at that moment, though, mostly hearing her, because his mind had gotten distracted once again by the realization that he’d fallen for her and that he had no idea of what to do about it.

It was only getting worse, though, day by day his mind wandered more and more to her, the twirls in his belly would get worse, and when she was around, more often than not he’d get caught on his own mind, he’d turn flustered around her, even clumsy…someone was bound to notice it, if they hadn’t already, Y/N herself had probably noticed it, and it embarrassed Daryl to no end, but he couldn’t stop it.

Daryl still didn’t know what to do about it, though. Sometimes he felt like running away. Other times he felt like trying to put distance between Y/N and him, but he couldn’t get himself to do so, not with her smiling at him, he was drawn to her and he couldn’t help it. Other times he felt like just clinging to her and never letting go, but he’d never dare, and the thought of him feeling like that embarrassed him.

What the hell was he going to do.

Y/N cared for him, it seemed she liked to spend time with him and talk to him, she was nice to him, but that didn’t mean she would want something else with him.

Even if she might give him a chance, somehow, Daryl didn’t know how that would work, he didn’t even know himself what he wanted. He wanted to be around her, he wanted them to talk, he wanted to listen to her, he wanted to make sure she was alright, he wanted her to smile and be happy…

But did he want their relationship to change, in a way? He wasn’t sure…but not really…the idea of a relationship made him nervous, not that he had much experience with those, or any, but he didn’t want what he had with Y/N to change…maybe even get spoiled and lose it…no, he didn’t want their relationship to change.

Did he?

He wasn’t sure…maybe…maybe it could still be the same, their relationship didn’t really need to change…but maybe he could hug her, or hold her hand, or something.

Sometimes, when they were sat down together or patrolling next to each other, sometimes he felt like reaching for her, to touch her, place his hand on the small of her back as she walked through a rocky path, hold her hand while they speak, even wrap his arm around her as they sat down together, comfort her when he felt she needed it…he never dared to do that, though, sneaking just some light touches, like a hand briefly on her shoulder. Y/N did the same to him, sometimes, more often than him, and he craved her touch even though it sent electricity through him, even if it made the twirls in his belly go crazy, even if he never dared to ask for it.

Damn, he really didn’t know what to do.

Sometimes, though, he’d look at Glenn and Maggie, and he’d wonder if he could have with Y/N something similar to what they had…he’d never given it much thought, and now he wondered if it was possible, if he even longed for it…still, he wasn’t sure, it still made him nervous…but he gotta admit, the idea didn’t feel bad…

Sometimes Daryl thought about Y/N having with someone else what Glenn and Maggie had together, and it felt like a kick to the gut. Still, she hadn’t seemed interested like that in anyone from their group, she spent most of her time with him, and in the apocalypse, it wasn’t like they had many chances to meet new people, so maybe he didn’t have to worry about it, about Y/N stepping away from him after finding someone she wanted to be with, leaving him and what they had… He felt like an ass thinking like that, not wanting Y/N to find someone, but he couldn’t help it…

Still…did he want to have with her what Glenn and Maggie had? Sometimes he felt like he didn’t want anything to change, but others he found himself daydreaming, Y/N on his mind, longing for it, no matter it embarrassed him.

He wasn’t sure what Y/N might think, either, if she knew what was in his mind, if she’d give him a chance or if he’d make things between them weird, losing what they had. He didn’t know how to bring it up, didn’t dare either, didn’t know if there was anything he could do to have Y/N maybe considering it…maybe things between them should stay as they were…

“Daryl, are you even listening?” The change on Y/N’s voice as she stopped reading to ask him a question took him out of his thoughts.

“Wha-yeah,” he lied but Y/N arched an eyebrow at him, as if she didn’t believe him. “I’m sorry…” He apologized sheepishly, blushing.

“It’s okay…” Y/N nudged him with her shoulder, which just made him more flustered. “Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Nothing…” Daryl knew Y/N wouldn’t believe him, though. “Just…same old.” He hated to lie to her, the words tasted bad in his mouth, but he couldn’t tell her where his thoughts had gone. Y/N just hummed, and as Daryl heard Maggie giggling, he couldn’t help his eyes from wandering to them again, and Y/N noticed.

“Yeah…they like to rub their happiness and perfect relationship in front of everyone, don’t they?” Y/N joked and Daryl nodded.

“It’s good that they’re happy, though…” He said quietly, and he meant it, even if it gave him all kinds of weird thoughts and ideas, like him maybe wanting something like that, maybe with the woman sitting down next to him.

“Yeah…” She let out a sigh, and the way in which she looked at Maggie and Glenn made Daryl wonder if she might want something like that too…

“Aren’t you happy?” He found himself asking.

“I’m…as happy as you can be in this world, I guess.” Y/N shrugged, and Daryl didn’t know what to think of that. He wanted her to be happy.

“But you want to be happy like they are?” He said quietly, anxious all of a sudden.

Y/N just shrugged again, but she smiled softly, looking at him. “Don’t we all?” Daryl didn’t know what to say, and the way in which Y/N was looking at him was making him nervous and making him feel things all over again…yes, yes he wanted it, but he not just wanted it, he wanted it with her…he didn’t know how to tell her, didn’t dare to, didn’t know how…and that urge to touch her was back, he wanted to reach for her no matter he didn’t dare to…

Y/N chewed on her lip, and then looked away from him, taking the book again. “You better to listen to me, I’m not explaining the plot to you if you get lost…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Daryl was drunkenly remember meeting Y/N for the first time and how their relationship progressed. This chapter continues those memories, before he has to deal with the harsh reality one again

Daryl didn’t know how, but the mess he felt everytime he was around Y/N or thought about her, got even worse. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to Y/N, his feelings growing more and more without him being able to stop it. He couldn’t stop himself from still wonder sometimes how it would be to have something like what Maggie and Glenn had…it scared him, but maybe if it was with Y/N, maybe it could be less scary…the idea made him sick with nerves, though.

It seemed like she wanted something like that, though? It had seemed like so, when she had looked at Maggie and Glenn in a certain way, talking about happiness…the idea of her wanting that with someone else, having something like that with someone else, felt like a kick. But still, Daryl didn’t know what to do.

He wanted her happiness…he knew that. He wanted to make her happy, every way he could. He wasn’t quite sure he knew how, though…but at least, she looked happy when they talked, and he always did all he could to make her stop worrying, to make her smile…

Y/N was smiling now, waving at him as he came from hunting, and he couldn’t help his own smile and the flutter in his heart. He loved it when she smiled. She’d been feeling down, he knew it, like everyone else, since the day before they lost the cabin where they’d been staying and were forced to camp outside in the cold until they found something better, with Lori’s belly getting bigger…they needed a permanent place, Daryl knew, yet he couldn’t find any, they needed food, but he found less and less game each day.

He was worried, but he didn’t want Y/N to worry, and her smile was always a good sight, and so he smiled and waved back, his smile growing bigger when he came to sit down with him and help him get his kills ready, like he was teaching her to do.

Later that evening, they were sat down together, keeping watch.

“I found something today…” Daryl murmured, he hadn’t been able to bring it up earlier, nervous as hell.

“Something?” Y/N frowned at him as if confused, and Daryl hummed, taking a small stone off his pocket.

It was a quartz, he thought, or something like that, clear and bright, kind of sparkly. It was its spark as the sun hit it that had made Daryl notice it on the ground. He’d picked it up, his mind going to Y/N, she wore a bracelet made with stones, polished little quartz, she had told him, that her best friend used to make.

The stone also happened to have a hole in it, and so Daryl got an idea, he spent the time he should have been hunting more in picking at the hole until he managed to open it at the other side so he could pass some cord through it, in case Y/N might like to wear it as a bracelet or a necklace or something.

He was nervous as hell now as he handed it to her, wondering if maybe she wouldn’t like it, or if she might think it was stupid. Y/N blinked at it in surprise, but then she was grinning.

“It’s so pretty, Daryl!”

“Thought you might like it…” Daryl muttered shyly, shrugging. “So I picked it…”

“You made it for me? Really?” She asked softly, her cheeks flushed pink, and Daryl nodded, looking down, shy. “I love it! Thank you so much!”

Daryl didn’t know what to say, too shy to say anything, but he couldn’t help his smile, glad Y/N liked it. He looked at her and his smile grew bigger when he saw she had that grin on her face that made his heart flutter.

“Help me?” Y/N placed the cord around her neck to wear as a necklace and turned around on her seat so her back was to him, pushing her hair away from the back of her neck so Daryl could tie the cord.

Daryl nodded, and he couldn’t help the slight tremble on his fingers when he held the cord, touching her skin as he tied a split knot, holding his breath while his heart hammered in his chest. As he finished, he brushed a lock of hair so it wouldn’t get trapped in the knot and hurt her, but he stopped, his heart skipping a beat, when he heard her humming.

“That feels good,” she murmured.

Daryl swallowed hard, didn’t dare to do anything else for a couple of seconds, before he brushed a finger down the back of her neck ever so softly. Y/N hummed again, tilting her head more. His heart felt as if it might burst out of his chest, fingers shaking, but Daryl caressed the skin of her neck again.

He was afraid Y/N might snap, that he was overstepping, reading her wrong, but she just hummed again as goosebumps formed on her soft skin after he did it again, before he dared to run his fingers through the hair she had pushed over her shoulder, and then returning to cares the back of her neck.

Y/N looked at him over her shoulder, smiling and closing her eyes as he hummed again, and he forgot how to breathe…she looked so pretty and her skin was warm and soft…

Daryl was distracted with the feeling of that warm and soft skin, with being touching her, trembling fingers still caressing the back of her neck ever so softly, but at the same time, his mind was racing with a million thoughts… Y/N was allowing him to touch her, to caress her skin, she wanted it, she liked it even…

Sooner than he’d have wanted it, even if he was nervous and thinking a million things at the same time, Y/N turned to face him again, and Daryl pulled his hand away, blushing.

Y/N chewed on her lip as she looked at him and Daryl began to fidget now that his fingers weren’t on her skin, and he looked down, shy, but then he felt Y/N’s fingers on his chin, making him look up again. She let go of his chin, but she caressed the side of his face softly with her fingers, and Daryl’s heart skipped a beat. Part of him wanted to run away while another part of him didn’t want her to ever stop, and he didn’t dare to move a millimeter, didn’t dare to even breathe.

“Okay?” She said quietly, and Daryl nodded, unable to find his voice. Y/N smiled softly, caressing his cheek and his jaw, before moving closer, and Daryl’s heart beat fast, fast… “Daryl,” she whispered. “I want to kiss you.” He could just stare at her…she wanted to kiss him? She meant it?

“Sorry,” Y/N apologized at his silence, and she made to move away from him, but Daryl finally moved, gently holding the hand that just a second ago had been cupping his face, before she could pull away from him.

She wanted to kiss him…She’d said it…she wanted to kiss him… Before Daryl could wonder if he wanted to kiss her, he was already leaning towards her and his lips were already brushing hers. It lasted just a second, but it made him feel all kind of things, his heart and the twirls in his belly going crazy, and yet, when she opened her eyes and looked at him, he felt that urge to run away, nervous, but he didn’t.

“Okay?” She asked again, smiling softly, in a way that helped him relax ever so slightly, and when Daryl nodded, her smile grew into that pretty, happy grin that Daryl loved, and he couldn’t be scared anymore.

They had kissed…she wanted this…and damn, he wanted it too, he wanted to try and see if he could make something between them work, even if it sounded crazy.

He reached out to caress her face, like she had done to him, his smile growing bigger when Y/N leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and humming softly, before kissing him again…

*

Now…

Daryl woke up with the feeling of Y/N’s lips on his, and a pounding headache. He’d fallen asleep on the porch, he wasn’t drunk anymore, and his heart hurt badly again. Y/N was gone, she was gone, she might very well be dead, like the rest of his family, Y/N was gone…

It had worked, between them, through good and bad, they had made it work. Daryl had never felt the way he’d felt with Y/N, he’d never been happier, and he knew she’d been happy too, he was proud he’d made her happy, always tried to do so, always tried to take care of her and protect her, but he’d failed, he’d failed his family, he’d failed his wife, and now she was gone…

“You miss her…”

Daryl heard Beth’s voice and he saw she was awake too. He didn’t answer, getting onto his feet. “We should leave.”

“We should burn this place.”

*

Daryl guessed it was morbid, to lie down on a casket on that mortuary Beth and he had found, Beth thought it was, but he didn’t care. He felt dead most of the time anyway, and probably it was just Beth what kept him sane and going, trying to keep at least her alive, even though she still drove him crazy talking about their people as if they weren’t lost, though she did it less and less.

She was now playing some piano that she’d found there, singing quietly, and as Daryl watched her, his mind drifted to Y/N again, no matter how much it hurt, he couldn’t stop thinking about her all the time.

She had loved music and was always requesting songs to Beth, and once they had found the prison and made a home in it, whenever he went out a run, Daryl always tried to find her CDs or cassettes that she could play on the cars’ radios or on that walkman that Rick found on a run, she loved it, but she always seemed to like it more to hear the songs from Beth.

The prison…that had been their home, Daryl had never felt more at home than there, at the prison with his family, in the cell that he shared with Y/N…

Then…

Since taking in the people from Woodbury, and people they found outside in runs and who needed help, the prison was starting to look more and more like a home, their own little village or something.

There was stuff everywhere, decorating the place, the walls, plants and pots scattered wherever Daryl looked, and there were always people around. He like his solitude, never liked to be around many people, but still, he liked to see the place like that, they were good people, and he liked how the people and the place felt happy. Besides, the more they were, the easier the runs were, and taking care of the prison, the orchards, the walkers at the fence, everything, it was easier with more people.

Sometimes he still missedwhen they were only his small group, his family, but he knew that living like that was good, and he truly liked the people they had brought in, had made good friends with some of them.

Still, it always surprised him how all that people seemed to like him that much. People, in general, had never liked him, not even his family at first, hell, not even his Y/N…he knew that now he wasn’t like he’d been back then when they met, though, he was ashamed of some of his actions and words back then, things were different now, he was different…but still, it always surprised him, seeing so many faces smiling at him, greeting him everywhere, looking for him to say thank you for every little thing, and just being nice in general. Y/N had said once that they admired him, and Rick had said that they looked up to him, and people admiring him or looking up to him sounded like the weirdest things ever to Daryl, in all honestly.

And so, as he walked through the yard and towards where Y/N was sat down, he couldn’t help his surprise and slight awkwardness when everyone in the yard began greeting him, smiling and waving, stopping him to share a few words as if they liked to talk with him or something.

“I still don’t get it…” He murmured as he sat down next to Y/N.

“They’re grateful you feed them, keep them safe, especially the ones you rescued out there. Told you, they admire you.” Y/N shrugged, smiling, though her eyes seemed sad. Daryl had felt something was off with her for a few days now, but he couldn’t pinpoint it, but each day he felt it more.

“There’s something wrong?” He finally asked, frowning.

“No…no.” Y/N shook her head, and she looked down. “You deserve it. You’re a hero.” Daryl would have scoffed at that, didn’t believe it at all, but he was too concerned by how Y/N was looking “You’re brave, selfless, loyal, you’re…you. So yeah, you deserve all that.” She shrugged again, but she looked like crying and Daryl was lost, he didn’t know what to do.

“Y/N…”

“Shit, sorry…” Y/N rubbed her eyes. “I’m awful…but, I mean it, you deserve this, that people see you for who you are and that they…admire you, and like you, and…and yeah, I…I have to take watch.”

Y/N got onto her feet and Daryl watched her rush away, totally dumbfounded, and even more lost. He really didn’t know what was going on, but there was definitely something off with Y/N and he needed to fix it, but he didn’t even know where to start, he didn’t know what was going on…

That night, he couldn’t find her. She hadn’t come for dinner, she wasn’t in their cell, and he was about to straight-up panic when Sasha told him that she was still in one of the watchtowers, having changed her night shift with her.

Still confused, Daryl walked to the watchtower and up the stairs. He caught a glimpse of Y/N sat down on the floor, hugging her knees and seeming miserable, before she looked at him, startled to hear someone, and rushed to rub her eyes and turn away from him.

“Go to sleep I’m keeping watch this night,” she said weakly, and when Daryl walked in and sat down next to her, she looked away.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he asked softly, trying as hard as he could not to freak out, trying to stay calm, even if it was difficult, knowing that the opposite would probably do more harm than good.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Y/N, come on, tell me please,” Daryl said softly but she just kept looking away, and he racked his brain trying to find something she might be upset about. “Did I do something?” He knew he wasn’t the easiest person to be around sometimes, he knew he really didn’t know how to make a relationship work and was just improvising and hoping for the best with Y/N, but no matter that she and he argued sometimes, he thought they were managing to make it work pretty good, at least until then, but he honestly couldn’t think of anything he might have done to make her upset like that…she wasn’t angry, just upset and sad, and it killed him. “Someone else did?”

If someone had said or done something to her…his blood boiled just thinking about it, but he couldn’t think of anyone in the prison doing something bad to her…maybe it wasn’t dramatic as he thought, maybe she’d argued with Maggie or any other friend and was upset about it but would work it out…

Daryl still didn’t like that she wasn’t telling him what was going on, and he just couldn’t help but worry. He hated it every time that she was sad, and not knowing what was it about made it worse.

“No…well…yeah, I guess, you being you…” Y/N snorted humorlessly and Daryl didn’t understand, but it did sound as if he had done something to make her that upset but he really, really couldn’t think of anything.

“Y/N, I don’t…I don’t understand,” he admitted, defeated, and Y/N gave him a sad smile.

“I know, I’m sorry, just…” She let out a sigh. “You’re…you’re amazing, you’re everything I told you this morning.” So…Y/N thought he was amazing, and she was upset with him. Daryl was just more and more lost. “You’re brave, kind, loyal, smart, handsome…everyone here knows it, everyone here thinks you are amazing.” Y/N gave him a sad smile. “Which you are. So. You could have anyone you wanted.”

Daryl just looked at her, and it took him some seconds to realize what was she saying…was she really saying that? It couldn’t be. “I…I’m with you.” He muttered, confused. “We’re together.”

There was again that sad smile on her face that he hated. “Doesn’t mean that if you asked them, half of the people in here wouldn’t want to get with you. You could have anyone you wanted.”

She was…she was really saying that. Daryl couldn’t believe it. “You think I’d cheat on you?!” He’d tried to stay calm, but he couldn’t help but raise his voice at that.

“No! No, I know you would never do that.” Y/N assured him. “But…I’d understand it if you like…wanted to be with someone else now, like, if you said, this is over…I guess I’d understand it.”

“Why would I want to do that?!” Daryl was just more and more confused, and he was getting agitated. Unless she meant. “You want…want to be with someone else?” Maybe she was tired of being with him and she was upset because she didn’t know how to tell him, maybe she liked someone else better of all a sudden, maybe…

“No!” Y/N stopped his thoughts before it could be too much. “No. I told you. You’re amazing. There’s no one else I’d rather be with, don’t think that, no.”

“Then?”

“We got together when we were this small group…weren’t that many people to pick, I guess…But now, there’s this many people in here, and…and you could have anyone you wanted, half of the people here would love to be with someone like you, I’m sure, I saw them looking at you.” She began, fidgeting. “So, you don’t have to just stick with me anymore, if there’s someone else that…that you might like better…’cause there’s many people in here, so…so yeah…”

Daryl could just blink at her, dumbfounded, trying to process her words, but it just didn’t make any damn sense, what in the world…she really meant what he thought she meant…he couldn’t believe it. “I’m with you, why would I want to be with someone else now?” She didn’t say anything, just looked away. “Y/N, I’m not with you because there was nobody else to pick or that wanted to be with me, how in the hell can you think that?!”

Y/N just shrugged, tearing up, and it killed him to see her crying. Daryl took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice soft again.

“Y/N, come on. I’m with you because I want to be, because I love you. You know it, yeah?” He hoped she did, he really hoped so, because he loved her in a way he’d never loved anyone, even though most of the time he didn’t know how to tell her, and so he waited for her reaction, holding his breath. She shrugged, but then she nodded, and Daryl reached out to gently hold her face and made her look at him. “I don’t want to be with anyone else, I don’t care if anyone else might want to…to have something with me,” he doubted it was true, though, no matter Y/N thought it. “I’m not with you because I had no one else to pick, or nothing of that bullshit. I want to be with you. Nobody else. Okay?”

Daryl let go of her face, looking at her, trying to show her that he meant every word, even if he still couldn’t believe she’d be saying stuff like that. Y/N nodded and hid her face on her hands, seeming embarrassed.

“Shit…I’m really sorry about all this… that I was like this…I just…I…”

“It’s okay, hey, it’s okay…” Daryl tried to calm her. He’d freaked out, he was still stunned about the whole thing, and he hated that Y/N felt he might just dump her now because there were more people around, that she thought his feelings might not be as strong as they were, but he knew very well how it was to feel insecure, he could understand it. “I mean it, I don’t want anyone but you.” It felt shy, to say that aloud, but he tried anyway. Y/N nodded, smiling weakly, but she still had that embarrassed, sad look. “What can I do to show you?”

“Daryl no…you don’t need to do anything, it’s me…I…I’m sorry, I really am,” she apologized again. “I know I should be happy that all that people see you as you are, as I see you…I know that you care for me, I know you’d never hurt me…I just…sorry…”

“Stop it.” Daryl was so out of his depth, he didn’t know what to do, and even if he thought Y/N was not making sense, even if he thought that all this was ridiculous, he just hated to see her like that, he didn’t want her to feel like that. “I’m with you ‘cause I want to, ‘cause I love you…hell, if you want me to marry you in front of the whole prison, up in a watchtower with everyone looking at us or something, I’ll do.”

Y/N snorted at that, rubbing her tears, but she was smiling. “You’d die of embarrassment.”

“Yeah, I would,” Daryl nodded, snorting too. “But if you want it, I’ll do it.”

“I’d die of embarrassment too, probably.” She gave him a weak smile. “But thanks for saying that.” Daryl returned her smile, reaching out to hold her hand, and they stayed silent for a short moment. “You mean it?”

“What?”

“The…the getting married thing…” Y/N said shyly.

“Yeah, yeah, I mean it.” Daryl had never given marriage much thought, even less now in this world, but he knew he wouldn’t mind it at all, being married to Y/N, no matter he didn’t see it as something that important, their relationship wouldn’t change, married or not, they cared and loved each other married or not, there wasn’t even a thing such like marriage anymore…but thinking of Y/N as his wife felt kind of good. “If you want us to get married, then we get married.”

“No.” Y/N gave him a soft smile. “You don’t need to marry me just because you think that’s what I want or because I was like that, I appreciate it, but-”

“Stop, stop it. I’m with you because I want to. I’d marry you because I want to, not only because I think it’s what you want.” Daryl said, serious, but Y/N was still looking at him unsure, and it just felt so wrong. “Y/N. You really think I’m not with you because I love you? You really think that what we have is not real?” He knew that probably he wasn’t the best at showing his emotions, but still, he had tried, he was trying, and the idea of Y/N thinking like that felt like a kick to the gut.

“No…no, sorry…I know it’s real, I just…I don’t know, sorry…” Y/N shrugged, embarrassed again. “I know I’m silly, a jealous silly idiot with no reason. I’m sorry I was like this with you.” Yes, she’d no reason to be jealous at all, Daryl would never leave her to be with someone else, but he didn’t say anything, it felt as if she was beating herself enough about it.

“No, it’s okay,” he said softly, eager to get past all this. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, and finally Y/N gave him a real smile. He couldn’t get the idea of marrying her out if his head now that he’d thought about it, for some reason. It was a silly thing, but whatever, why not. “We can get married.”

“Daryl, we’re not going to get married just because I was a jealous silly idiot, you don’t have to-” She began again but Daryl stopped her.

“Will you stop with that?! Do you want to marry me or not?” Now that he was asking, he was kind of nervous about the answer, for some reason.

“Yes.” Y/N blinked at him, seeming a bit confused.

“Will you marry me then?”

“I…I…yes, yes I would marry you, of course, but, but we don’t have to-”

“Stop with that already, woman I love you, but you can be so damn frustrating sometimes,” Daryl groaned. “I want to marry you and so if you want to marry me, that is, we’re getting married.”

“Are we…are we getting married…for real?” Y/N blinked at him, seeming dumbfounded, and for a moment Daryl feared he’d actually overstepped and she didn’t really want that, but then a smile was tugging at her lips, even if she still seemed in disbelieve.

“Yes, we are getting married,” he said firmly, now that he had said it, he knew nothing was going to convince it to back out of it, no, he damn wanted it now.

“We are getting married…” Her smile was a full grin now, the kind of grin he loved in her and hadn’t seen in too long, and it warmed Daryl to see it, making him just feel surer that this was what he wanted to do.

“Yeah, we are getting married.” It still felt kind of silly, but Daryl couldn’t help his smile.

“I don’t want to get married on top of a watchtower with all the prison looking.” Y/N giggled, as if her insecurity was finally leaving her, and she was starting to look almost giddy, making him feel that way too.

“Me neither.”

“But we’re getting married?” Y/N still sounded surprised, but it didn’t sound like a real question, and he was smiling, eyes wide.

“Damn sure we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we got some sort of proporsal! What did you think? More of it coming next chapter…and also the claimers!
> 
> If you liked the chapter and have time, please let me know your thoughts in a comment.
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Daryl was holed up in a funerary home with Beth, remembering how he and Y/N decided to get married at the prison. We take it from there, before going back to present time and finding the claimers…

Early the next morning, Daryl was in bed with Y/N after they had spent the night taking watch. He should go out hunting or help with something, but he guessed it wouldn’t hurt if he took a short nap with Y/N.

She was lying over his chest and Daryl thought she was asleep, but she pulled back slightly to look at him, smiling.

“What?” Daryl asked, unable to stop his own smile as he looked at her, brushing his knuckles over her cheekbone.

“We’re like…married.” She grinned, and Daryl was so glad she didn’t look upset and insecure anymore, but happy.

“Yeah, we are…you sure you don’t want to do a…dunno, a ceremony or …I don’t know, something?” They had talked about it while they took watch, but they hadn’t come up with anything.

“I don’t know…” Y/N let out a sigh and moved to curl up over him again. “I know that I don’t want to do it up in a watchtower with everyone else looking at us from the ground.” She snorted. “But I don’t know if maybe we should do a ceremony or something?”

“Don’t think there’s anything we have to do…it ain’t like we have real weddings anymore.” Daryl shrugged and he began to play with her hair.

“Yeah…it’s just…I don’t really feel like doing a ceremony or something in front of everyone here, with all of them looking at us and what not…you know?” Y/N said, and Daryl knew, he understood that very well. “But doing something only for our family, excluding everyone else, kind of feels wrong…”

“It’s your wedding, you gotta do what you want.” Daryl murmured and Y/N hummed.

“I think…I think I don’t need to do anything, unless you want to? I want to do it like Maggie and Glenn, you know? One day they went like, for now on, we’re married, and that was it. I think I just want that, I don’t need more…but what do you want, how does it sound?”

“Sounds perfect,” Daryl said in all honestly, he didn’t feel like having to do a ceremony or anything in front of everyone, it felt awkward.

“So…that is then…we’re married?” Y/N looked at him again, smiling, and Daryl nodded, smiling too.

“If you’re sure you don’t want to do any celebration or nothing?” It’d feel awkward for sure, but Daryl would do it if it made her happy.

“No, I told you, I don’t need it unless you want it, I’m happy just knowing I’m married to you. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Daryl whispered, pulling at her to kiss her lips.

*

“So…” Daryl walked into the cell and to the bed where Y/N was sitting, leaning against the headboard as she read a book. “I talked to Glenn.”

“And?”

Daryl curled up next to her, resting his head on her lap, and he closed his eyes when Y/N began playing with his hair. “Said he got the ring by cutting it from a walker’s finger.

“Okay…okay, I don’t think I want a ring that way.” She snorted.

“Yeah, me neither…”

“We don’t need rings, I don’t want us going out and risking it or anything like that, just to get rings. If we happen to find some in a run that we’re doing, then that’s nice, but not going out just for that.”

“Okay,” Daryl agreed. “No rings, no ceremony…I guess this wasn’t how you expected to get married…” He half-joked, though he was worried Y/N might be disappointed.

“Yeah, you’re right, it’s not,” she said, and Daryl’s stomach dropped. “I never could have imagined I’d get a chance to be married to someone as amazing as you but here I am.”

Daryl felt his face heating up at her words, blushing up to his ears, and he mumbled some nonsense, flustered, nuzzling her stomach and hiding his face. Y/N just chuckled and went back to play with his hair. Daryl closed his eyes with a content smile. He’d never thought much about marriage, never thought he’d meet someone he’d feel like marrying, someone who’d want to marry him, until Y/N, he didn’t care about rings, or ceremonies, or anything, as long as she were happy, he just needed her and nothing else.

Now…

Daryl had lost her, though, didn’t have Y/N anymore, and it was his own fault…and now he had lost Beth too, and it was his own fault too. A car had come up out of nowhere while he was fighting walkers, and before he knew what was going on, Beth had been dragged in and they had sped away. Daryl had tried running behind the car, but it was gone now, Beth was gone, what the hell was he going to do now…he’d failed Beth too…

He’d been in the middle of the road, panting, exhausted, when a group of men had approached him, and Daryl knew they were trouble. Dangerous, murderers probably…it seemed they were going to kill him, but somehow their leader, Joe, had asked him to join them, instead of killing him.

Daryl didn’t know why, but he had nodded and was now following them to the warehouse where they were staying, while Joe explained to him the rules of the group. He should have said no, he should have let them kill him, that’s what he deserved, and they were bad people, and yet…yet it seemed he couldn’t give up…

When he stepped into the warehouse, Daryl stopped moving, even felt as if his heart might have stopped, at what he saw there, who he saw there…was he hallucinating, maybe he’d reached that point…or maybe ghosts were real?

Y/N…

She looked like she might be a ghost, face drained of color, cuts and bruises on her skin, maybe that’s how she’d died, and came now to haunt him for having let her die, for having let their family die, for having lost Beth, for having joined this bunch of murderers…

But no. That was ridiculous.

“Daryl?”

He heard her voice, weak, but hers, eyes opening wide as she saw him, filling with tears. She was real. Y/N was real. She was there. She ran to him, and so did him, but when he reached her, some guy yanked her back by her hair, making her cry out in pain.

“Don’t touch her!” Daryl growled, but when he was going to throw himself at the man, a gun was pointed to his head. He growled again but he noticed Y/N shaking her head no, looking terrified.

“Who’s that asshole?” The man who was grabbing her asked.

“This is Daryl,” Joe said, having walked to them. “Found him on the road, thought he could join us, got a crossbow, seems you are not the only hunter anymore, Len.”

Len just grunted, glaring at him, and when he yanked Y/N back by her hair again Daryl saw red, he didn’t care about the gun on his head, and he tried again to go for Len, but another guy held him back while another kicked his gut when he struggled. They pushed him onto his knees, gun pressed onto his head again.

“Daryl, stop!” Y/N begged when he tried to struggle again, looking so terrified, like she was sure they were going to kill him, that he listened to her. He didn’t want them to kill him in front of her, but he couldn’t let them hurt her either…Daryl didn’t know what to do.

“Yes, stop. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if you don’t stop.” Joe said, looking from him to Y/N, and back at him. “Seems you two know each other.”

“She’s my wife and if he doesn’t take his hands off her I’m gonna cut them off,” Daryl growled, glaring at Len, who now had her hand around Y/N’s throat.

“Just kill that prick already,” Len spat.

“I see…” Joe nodded. “You see Daryl, I already explained to you how our rules work, you see something you want, you claim it. Len here found the girl and claimed her, she’s his.”

“You can’t claim her, she’s a person!” Daryl felt his blood boiling, but when he tried to get up he was kicked into the ground again, and he heard Y/N’s whimper when the gun was pressed hard against his head. “Let her go…” He growled.

“I claimed her, she’s mine.” Len squeezed Y/N’s throat. “Just kill him already,” he said as he looked at Joe, who looked from him to Daryl again.

“You know, Len…” Joe began, signaling to his man to stop pointing the gun at Daryl, but the two men who were holding him didn’t let go. “If she’s Daryl’s wife, one might say he claimed her first, right?”

Daryl looked at him, wondering what the man was playing, he knew he was playing something, but he couldn’t yet see what.

“What, no!” Len snapped. “I found her, I claimed her, mine. Those are the fucking rules, your rules.”

“Hmm hmm…” Joe nodded. “But as I said, she was Daryl’s first, we just didn’t know she was claimed already.”

“That makes no sense!” Len scoffed.

“No, it does. She’s Daryl’s. You’re going to have to find another one.” Joe smirked at Daryl and he knew something was up, but he couldn’t see what, and if it meant Len would let Y/N go, then he didn’t care, for now at least. “Give him the girl, Len.” Daryl looked at Len, who was glaring at him, squeezing Y/N’s throat again, who whimpered, and it took all Daryl’s willpower not to go for him, but he couldn’t fuck this up now. “You don’t agree with the rules?”

“You’re just making them up now, I claimed her!” Len snapped.

“Oh, okay, I see, you don’t agree, you want to discuss the rules, that’s okay,” Joe said, placing the hand over the holster of his knife. “Let’s discuss them, then.”

Len looked at him, then at Daryl, scoffed and let Y/N go, pushing her towards Daryl before rushing away. He tried to get up but he was held down again, and Joe approached him.

“She’s yours again. Now, I respect that claim, but you better not try something. You follow the rules, and you don’t lie,” Joe warned, and Daryl tried again to control his rage and not act on it. “Understood?” He nodded in silence, and Joe smiled, and Daryl knew something was going on, but now he could just think on Y/N. “Okay, let him go.”

As soon as the men stopped holding him down, Daryl got up and reached out for Y/N, who threw herself into his arms, hiding her face on his chest, shaking as he cried, and it was killing him, but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it now.

Daryl wrapped his arms around her tightly, looking around, trying to survey the situation. There were eight men in there, nine counting Joe, and he’d seen two outside taking watch, all of them armed. He really didn’t know how he was going to take Y/N out of there.

“You’ll have time for her later, now come on, we have more things to discuss,” Joe said and Daryl didn’t want to let go of Y/N, but he knew a warning when he heard one. He looked around, glaring at the men, and Joe chuckled. “They know she’s yours now, no one is going to touch her, we all know the rules. Come on.”

Daryl had to force himself to pull away from Y/N. She looked at him with wet, scared eyes, but when she smiled at him weakly it made him feel even worse. Her arms and neck were full of bruises and cuts, she had some on her face too, and her lip had been split too. He wondered if Len had done all that, or if somebody else had helped. He didn’t want to think what else he’d have done to her but at the same time, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. His blood boiled in rage, but he knew he shouldn’t do anything, not yet, not now, for Y/N’s sake, not until he knew how to take her somewhere safe. He didn’t feel like saying anything to her in front of everyone, and so he just squeezed her hand as he looked at her, trying to tell her in silence that he’d keep her safe, that he’d solve this, even if he didn’t know how. He didn’t know if Y/N understood, but she nodded, letting go of him, and he followed Joe as he walked him around the warehouse.

“We’re only staying here this day,” he explained. “We’re following someone, he killed someone of our group, I think we got his trail. We’ll keep going tomorrow.”

Daryl nodded, though he wasn’t paying much attention, focused on coming up with a way of getting out of there with Y/N. His eyes kept drifting to her, sat down on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, but nobody tried to do anything to her. If Joe noticed, he didn’t say anything, and just kept talking.

Later, once Joe went to do something else, Daryl didn’t know what, he walked towards Y/N. He looked around to make sure people weren’t paying attention, and he reached out his hand to her, hoping she’d stay quiet so as not to draw attention to them.

Y/N looked at him with wide, confused eyes. She still seemed scared, but she looked around and nodded, taking his hand and getting up. They made their way to the door, walking as if nothing, trying not to seem suspicious.

When they reached the door, though, he heard Joe’s voice. Damnit. “Where’re you going?”

“Outside.” Daryl shrugged, still trying to pretend he wasn’t trying to take Y/N away from there.

“There’s no need, sun’s going down and we have enough people taking watch, you don’t have to do it this night,” Joe smirked. “You’ll repay us hunting us something to eat tomorrow. Now come on, claim somewhere to sleep before there’s nothing left.”

All the cars seemed to be claimed, but Daryl didn’t care. He picked a spot on a corner from where he could watch the rest of the warehouse and he sat down there. Y/N sat down next to him and Daryl wrapped his arm around her, keeping her securely at his side.

He still hadn’t said a word to her. He didn’t know what to tell her. That he was sorry? That wasn’t enough. This was on him. That he’d take her away from there, keep her safe? It wasn’t looking promising, and he hadn’t kept her safe at all. He didn’t like the idea of talking to her while all those men were around.

Joe had given him some dry meat and Daryl gave it to her. He looked skinnier than at the prison and he wondered if those assholes had fed her at all. She picked some pieces, but nudged at him until he ate too.

Then, she crawled between his legs, snuggling against his chest, hiding her face, and Daryl wrapped his arms around her tight, nuzzling her hair before resting his chin on top of her head. Y/N…he’d found her, she was there with him, she was real, hurt but alive, he was holding her…Daryl felt like crying and he did his best not too. He didn’t know if Y/N noticed, but she snuggled even closer to him, wrapping her arms around him too.

When most of the men were inside the cars or sleeping, Daryl pulled at Y/N gently so he could look at her, blood boiling at the state of her, and he brushed his knuckles over her cheek gently.

Y/N’s eyes filled with tears but she gave him that weak smile that broke his heart. She looked around before looking at him again. “I knew you were alive,” she whispered ever so quietly. “But I thought I wouldn’t see you again…can’t believe it…”

Daryl couldn’t take it anymore, letting out a whimper, hiding his face on the crook of her neck. He felt Y/N holding him tight, her fingers playing with his hair and he nuzzled into her.

“I’m sorry…” He whispered, trying to be quiet, and Y/N shushed him. She didn’t blame him, he knew, but he deserved the blame. “I’m sorry…”

Daryl looked up from her neck, looking at her as she caressed his hair, and he leaned to kiss her lips softly, mindful of her split lip. Then he kissed her forehead before resting his forehead on hers as they held each other.

Eventually, he pulled away to look at her. “Nobody is going to hurt you again, okay?” He whispered, and tears filled Y/N’s eyes again, but she nodded. Daryl pulled her close and she snuggled to his chest again.

“I love you.”

Her soft whisper was like a dart to Daryl’s heart. He kissed the top of her head, holding her as tight as he could, trying not to think on everything that had been done to her…and despite her state, she didn’t blame him, she smiled to him, said she loved him…Daryl felt like crying again. “I love you too.” He whispered. “Sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”

Y/N fell asleep eventually, exhausted. Daryl was exhausted too, but he didn’t sleep, watching over her, trying to think a way of taking her somewhere safe…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We found the claimers!! Oh no.
> 
> If you liked the chapter and have time, please let me know your thoughts in a comment.
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, Daryl found her, but she’s captive with the Claimers, and now they’re both stuck with the group…

The sky was beginning to clear when Y/N woke up. Daryl felt her stiff in his arms, but when she pulled back and looked at him, she relaxed, smiling weakly. Daryl reached out to run his fingers through her messy hair and Y/N closed his eyes, leaning into his touch.

Daryl leaned to kiss her but he heard footsteps approaching and he was on alert in a second, keeping his arms securely around Y/N. Most of the men seemed still asleep, but Joe was approaching.

“Morning Daryl,” he smirked, looking at them. “We’re leaving soon, but got out and hunt as something we can take with us, okay?”

No, it wasn’t okay, but he didn’t want to argue it, it wouldn’t help, and so he just nodded. He got up, holding Y/N’s hand to take her with him.

“She’s not a hunter,” Joe said when he noticed it. “I need her here helping pack the stuff.”

Daryl tried not to snap. If he got into a fight with Joe, nothing good will happen to Y/N, he knew, but still… “She’s mine,” he growled.

“Yes, you claimed her, everyone knows,” Joe smirked again. “Now go and hunt us something.”

It took all of his willpower not to snap again, but then Y/N let go of his hand. She still seemed scared, but she nodded at him and she knelt down and began packing things. Okay, okay, they could play this…Daryl glared at the men around the warehouse, trying to remind them of his claim, and rushed out and to the woods to hunt anything as fast as possible and go back with Y/N.

He had managed to get a rabbit when he heard some screams, and he recognized it was Y/N. He ran towards the sound and saw her on the ground, struggling against Len, who was on top of her.

“Shut up!” He yelled at her as he slapped her, before holding his hand to her mouth, and her other hand tried to hold her down to stop her struggle. “I don’t care about Joe’s bullshit, I claimed you! Have you forgotten it?!”

Without even stopping to aim, Daryl loosed the bolt of the crossbow, running to them. Len cried out as the arrow pierced through his side, and Y/N pushed him off her as Daryl reached them.

“Don’t touch her!” He grabbed Len, throwing him onto his back on the ground, falling on top of him as he began to punch his face, seeing red, but Y/N’s hand on his shoulder and her calling his name made him stop.

Len was still alive, and Y/N knelt in front of them, looking at Len, who Daryl was still holding down. She reached out to take Daryl’s knife from his belt before focusing her attention on Len again, and she sank the knife into his throat, killing him.

Y/N wasn’t saying anything, wasn’t moving, she just shook, eyes still on Len, and Daryl took the knife from her hands gently. “Come on,” he whispered, taking her bloodied hands on his. “We have to get away from here, okay?” Y/N nodded, letting him pull her onto her feet.

“Well, now…”

Daryl heard Joe’s voice before they could run away and he saw him walking to them with another two men, holding their guns, and so he pushed Y/N behind him and aimed his crossbow at them.

“I always knew Len was a liar who wouldn’t follow the rules and who we couldn’t trust.” He smiled. “Thank you, Daryl. Now lower that.” Daryl didn’t and Joe’s smile was gone. “Lower that.” He warned and Daryl didn’t know what to do, but finally he lowered his crossbow. He didn’t want to risk a fight, not like this, not when Y/N could get hurt or even killed.

“Good.” Len smiled again. “Thank you too, girl.”

“I’ve claimed her! You didn’t see him taking her?!” Daryl snapped, Y/N was supposed to be safe according to Joe’s stupid rules, though he was starting to feel he’d played him to get ride of Len.

“I was busy.” Joe shrugged, smirking. “We’re leaving. Come on”

While everyone finished getting their stuff ready, Daryl managed to sneak a minute to clean Y/N’s face and hands of blood.

“Are you okay?” He asked her softly, and she nodded. “You did good, I’m proud of you.” Y/N gave him a sad smile at that and Daryl leaned to kiss her forehead before he looked around, making sure nobody was looking at them. “Be ready to run, okay? We get behind and we run away, alright?” Y/N nodded, clutching his hand tight, and Daryl kissed her lips softly before they began walking with everyone.

They walked at the rear of the group, ready to run as soon as they could, but Joe walked right next to Daryl, frustrating their attempt. It didn’t seem he knew what they had planned, he just seemed to want to talk with Daryl about this and that, and Daryl was getting more and more agitated but he tried not to show it…there had to be a way…

It was dark already when they got their chance. One of the men that had been scouting came running. “Joe! We found him!” He must be talking of the man who had killed one of his own. “Come on, you gotta see this!”

Joe rushed with him and Daryl clutched Y/N’s hand. “Come on, come on, we’re leaving!”

“No, wait, wait.” Y/N tugged at his hand, stopping him. “Look, I think…I think that’s Rick?”

Daryl looked towards where she was pointing and yes, that was Rick…it couldn’t be…he was alive too…but then one of the men was holding him at gunpoint and…were those Michonne and Carl? They were going to kill them.

“Come on!”

Y/N and him ran there even though Daryl didn’t have a plan but he knew he had to do something, arriving right when Joe was going to shoot Rick.

“Hold on!” Daryl stopped him, and though the men wanted to kill Rick for having killed one of his own, Joe allowed Daryl to speak. “These people, you’re gonna let them go. These are good people.”

“Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that, I’ll have to speak for him because your friend here, strangled him in a bathroom,” Joe said.

Daryl looked at Y/N, whose eyes were focused on Rick, before she looked at Daryl, scared. Yeah…yeah, he had to do something, he had to fix this. She was not going to like it, though.

“You want blood, I get it.” He nodded, throwing his crossbow to the ground. “Take it from me man, come on.”

“What?! What are you doing?!”

Daryl heard Y/N’s voice, he knew she wasn’t going to like it, but he had to do it. He looked at her to try and tell her to stop, when one of the men pointed his gun at Y/N’s head. Shit…shit, he was making everything worse…

“This man killed our friend, you say he’s good people.” Joe pointed at him. “See, now that right there, it’s a lie!”

Daryl had barely time to react before one of the men hit the butt of his rifle onto his stomach and another kicked him onto the car.

“No!”

He heard Y/N’s scream when she saw it and then one of the men was grabbing her, throwing her onto the ground, but he couldn’t see anything else as he was beaten into the car. He punched one of the men, but the other threw him against the car again, and before he could do anything they were beating him again.

“He’s dead so I claim you now.”

Daryl heard the man who was holding Y/N saying, and he heard Carl whimpering and struggling too, but he couldn’t manage to break free, and he grunted as they hit his head against the hood of the car.

Then, something must have happened, because the men beating him stopped. He managed to look up and saw that Joe was on the ground, gurgling as he grabbed his throat, while Rick’s mouth was bloodied. Michonne took advantage to grab the gun of the man who was holding her, shooting him dead, and so did Daryl, punching at one of the guys holding him, managing to break free.

He looked at Y/N, but the man holding her down had gotten distracted too and so Y/N had pushed him off her, kneeling his gut and punching his nose, and then she was rolling towards his crossbow on the ground. Daryl tried to help her, but one of the men threw him against the car again. Daryl managed to dodge his punch, punching him instead and he pushed him onto the ground, kicking his head until he was sure he was dead.

He felt another man grabbing him, but when he turned to punch him the man was falling on him, dead, and Daryl noticed an arrow on his back. He looked around and saw that Y/N had managed to grab his crossbow.

“Y/N!” Daryl yelled when he noticed another behind her, but he warned her on time and Y/N turned around and hit the guys head with the crossbow, not time to reload, hitting him again when he fell to the ground.

There was another one going for her and so Daryl took his knife as he ran to him, sinking it into his head. He could hear shoots and he knew Michonne and Rick were shooting at the remaining men, and so he went to Y/N, who was still hitting the man’s head.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he stopped her, holding her arms gently. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah.” Y/N looked at him, passing him the bloodied crossbow. “But that one isn’t.” Daryl followed her gaze and saw that the man who had been holding her had gotten up and was going to them, though he was holding his bloodied nose, that Y/N seemed to have broken, and he seemed to have lost his gun on the struggle with her.

Daryl reloaded the crossbow, but he noticed Y/N going for the man, knife in hand. “I’ll do it,” she growled. Daryl shot he arrow anyway, afraid of the man hurting Y/N more, but he aimed for the leg. The man cried out, falling onto the ground, holding his leg, and then Y/N grabbed him by the hair, making him look at her before sinking the knife into his head, ending him for good.

Once Y/N was done, Daryl approached her, reaching out to hold her hand and help her get up. “Are you okay?” He asked, hugging her to his chest before leaning back to inspect her. She had a couple of new bruises and her lip had opened again.

“Yeah…yeah, and you?” She reached out her hand to caress his face softly, and everything hurt, but Daryl nodded.

He took the rag from his back pocket and pressed it to her bleeding lip, hating how it made her hiss in pain. She took the rag herself and Daryl wrapped his arm around her, turning around to check on the others.

For a moment, everyone stared at each other in disbelieve, but then Y/N rushed to Michonne. “You all are alive, I thought I’d never…are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I am.” Michonne smiled weakly, reaching out to grab Y/N’s hand with the arm that wasn’t holding Carl, the kid looked traumatized but he went to hug Y/N when she reached out her arms for him. Michonne let go of Carl and went to hug Daryl, who was there unsure of what to do and feeling absolutely guilty about everything, but when he hugged Michonne, it felt a bit better.

“Rick,” Y/N called for him. “Rick, you okay?” He only nodded, bloodied up and looking at the dead men on the ground, and Daryl knew him good enough to know he wasn’t doing good. “Rick, I have to tell you something.” Y/N stopped holding Carl but kept her arm around him. “I saw Tyreese taking Judith and some other kids, I was going to run to them, but one man got me, and when I killed him they were already gone. But I’m sure they left the prison, I’m sure they ran away safely.”

Judith…Daryl didn’t want to get his hopes high, thinking about the baby was like getting his heart crushed, but Y/N seemed certain she hadn’t died in the prison, that Tyreese had gotten him out of there, that maybe they were alive somewhere…

Rick was looking at Y/N without saying anything, but Carl did. “Do you think she’s alive?”

“I…I don’t know, but we’re alive, aren’t we?” Y/N said, and Carl nodded, smiling weakly and letting go of her to go back to Michonne.

“She’s right.” Michonne nodded. “We saw something written on a traffic sign, talking about a place, a refuge for all, Terminus. All the train rails go to it, if some of us follow it, we could meet there.”

“Good, good, that’s good.” Y/N smiled, walking back to Daryl, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head. He didn’t have much trust in that Terminus place, or on finding anyone, but maybe Y/N and Michonne were right, after all they had found each other, at least it was worth a shot, and it wasn’t like they had anything else to do.

At last, Rick spoke. “We stay here this night, tomorrow we keep going.”

“I’ll help you clear the bodies from here,” Daryl said, they needed to do it, and he wanted to check on Rick. “Stay here with Michonne and Carl, okay?” He whispered to Y/N, who nodded, and she gave his lips the softest of kisses, trying not to hurt her lip more. Daryl reached out to cup her face, resting his forehead on hers for a moment before forcing himself to pull away.

While helping Rick with the bodies, Daryl tried to talk to him, tried to apologize, but like Y/N, Rick didn’t blame him either…he blamed himself, though, no matter what they said.

Once the bodies were taken care of, Rick instructed everyone to sleep, and they all would be leaving towards Terminus with the first light. Daryl tried telling him that he’d take watch for half of the night so Rick could sleep too, but he didn’t want it. It still worried him, but Daryl decided to let him be for the night.

Carl and Michonne took the car and Daryl went to sit down with Y/N, who had found a blanket and had spread it over the ground. Daryl reached out to caress her cheek and ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face.

“Are you okay?” He whispered and Y/N nodded, smiling softly.

“I am now.”

Daryl wrapped his arms around her, pushing her close, and Y/N let out a content sigh as she snuggled to him.

“I’m sorry about what they did to you…” He murmured, he knew she didn’t want to think about it, neither did he, but he couldn’t help it.

“I know…but that’s not on you, you’re not guilty of anything.”

“But-”

“No.” She said firmly and Daryl stopped trying to apologize, kissing her forehead and holding her close to his chest.

“I thought I had left you to die, that I’d never see you again, that you were gone…” Daryl whispered, nuzzling into her hair as he tried not to cry, though he failed. “I should have…I don’t know, but…I…”

Y/N pulled back from his chest, reaching out to cup his face. “Shh. I know. We are together now.” Daryl nodded, leaning to rest his forehead on hers, staying like that for a little bit, and then he held her against his chest again, running his fingers through her hair, and Y/N wrapped her arms around him too as they curled up together.

“You really think Judith is alive?” Daryl whispered, he still didn’t want to get his hopes high, but needing to hear it from her again.

“I don’t know,” Y/N whispered back. “But I think there’s a possibility she’s, and more of us too.”

“Waiting at Terminus?” Daryl couldn’t really believe it.

“If they follow the rails…I know, it’s a long shot.” Y/N let out a sigh. “But it’s the only thing we got.”

“I ain’t sure about that Terminus place…”

“Yeah, I don’t think any of us trust it.” Y/N nodded. “But we gotta give it a try, it’s the best chance we got.”

“Yeah…”

Y/N pulled back slightly, looking at him with a soft smile, reaching out to softly caress his face with her fingers. “We’re together again now. That’s what matters.”

Daryl nodded, she was right. He’d found part of his family, he had found Y/N again, and he didn’t plan on letting go.

“I promise I’m gonna keep you safe.” He whispered, and Y/N smiled softly before snuggling against his chest again.

Daryl didn’t know what would happen now, what they would do, if they would find more of their family, if they’d find a safe place, if they’d find nothing, or if it was just another threat.

But Y/N was right, they were together again, and that was what mattered. He could deal with anything, if they were together, he meant it, he’d keep her safe, he’d keep their family safe. Together, they could do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! I hope you liked it, please let me know your thoughts! As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new fic, I hope you like it. I wanted to introduce Daryl and reader’s relationship in this fic chapter and we’ll see it progress in the next before dealing with the claimers.
> 
> If you liked the chapter and have time, please let me know your thoughts in a comment.
> 
> As always, excuse my english, is not my first language.


End file.
